Go to Hell and Regroup
by TheMosh4321
Summary: Taylor and Sierra have been taking in people off the streets and into their small department store since the beginning of the apocalypse. Now, the windows are soon to break. Walkers are bound to get in, and they have nowhere to go. As members from their group bring over their large dodge truck, they need to find somewhere to drive it. Somewhere safe.
1. Chapter 1

***Chapter One***

Taylor glanced at the locked, glass doors of the large department store, then to the escape door that led to the garages. "Pearson!" She screamed, just loud enough to raise above the sound of the walkers as they beat on the glass. Light cracks ran across the doors everywhere, threatening to break through at any moment. "Sierra, Farrynne! All o' ya'll! Get your asses down 'ere!"

"Alright, alright! What's goin' on?" Sierra asked as she ran down the stairs, skipping a few steps at a time.

Taylor simply pointed to the glass doors as the rest of them made their way down the stairs.

"Oh shit!" Farrynne exclaimed, instantly grabbing her shotgun she had so skillfully hidden under a shelf. Taylor rolled her eyes as her bow was already slung on her shoulder, a quiver of arrows on the other shoulder. Sierra had a large grin on her face as she pulled two handguns from her waistband, looking to the doors and then to Taylor.

"I think there's a truck a block or two ov'r. Get on outta here and get them on it. Then come back 'ere and get me because you know you ain't leavin' me 'ere." She said. Taylor simply rolled her eyes once again.

"You're an idiot. But I ain't leavin' ya here for a second." She told Sierra and then turned to James, Brandon, and Bradley. "You on and get that truck. Bring it 'round to the garage and we'll open the doors for ya. Farrynne, Pearson, you two guard the upstairs entrance. Sierra and me got it handled down here. Go, and hurry. We're gonna try and attract more o' the walkers ta let y'all get outta here easier."

Sierra had managed to move from the floor to a perch on a shelf without being detected and looked at Taylor. Both girls shared in the same evil grin as the others nodded and took to their posts.

"Haha, this should be fun!" Sierra exclaimed.

"Yep, time of our lives," Taylor rolled her eyes and climbed onto the shelf beside the brunette. "We're gonna die, ain't we?" Sierra asked the blonde, the grin still on her face as she spoke.

"Eh, don't worry about it, we're grade A walker hunters for god's sake. We go to hell and regroup 's all."

"Well, here goes nothin'." Sierra shot once at the window near them. The bullet left a clean hole through the window. Walkers seemed to hear the noise and began stumbling over towards the window, causing Taylor to take a sharp breath.

"C'mon James, Brandon, where are ya two.." She hissed to herself and began firing arrows at the closest walkers. She had a full quiver of arrows and was barely making a dent in it as the walkers were extremely slow at this point and were struggling to break through the glass.

Shots were fired upstairs and the two girls stuck on the shelf were sure some walkers had broken through those windows.

The screeching of tires was heard next, and Taylor was quick to hop off the shelf, then pull Sierra down by her elbow.

"Pearson! Farrynne!" Sierra screamed up the stairs. "Get on down here, they're back with tha truck!"

Taylor slung her bow back over her shoulder and began pulling the chain to open the garage. Pearson and Farrynne's footsteps were heavy as they ran down the stairs. Farrynne aimed her shotgun at the garage door as it began to slowly open with the help of Pearson.

Sierra had both guns in hand and shot down every walker in sight as the boys backed the truck into the garage, opening the back door. With walkers nearing behind them, Taylor and Sierra ensured that everyone had gotten in the truck before climbing in themselves.

"Drive drive drive!" Farrynne screamed at Bradley, who was driving the giant truck/moving van.

"Alright I'm trying would ya quiet screaming at me?!" Bradley yelled back.

"Bradley," Taylor and Sierra shouted in unison, "just shut up and drive!"

Bradley sped the truck up to about 102 MPH and hit a few zombies, letting their bodies roll over the hood and windshield of the truck, trailing sickly blackish red blood everywhere.

A red mustang sped by, it's alarm blaring. And idea spiked in Sierra's mind as she spoke, "Bradley, follow that car, and hurry."

Bradley glanced back at her and rolled his eyes. "And why would I take orders from you?" He smirked.

Taylor, not wanting to deal with it, took one of Sierra's handguns and held it to Bradley's temple as he drove. "You're gonna do whate'er she says, you understand me?" She growled at him.

He, actually scared of the smaller female, sped up, driving after the mustang.

"And that's how ya get the job done!" Sierra exclaimed, grinning as she laid back on her elbows in the bed of the truck. "I bet you this guy's gonna lead us to some camp or sumthin'."

"A bottle of Platinum says he's gonna go to some random, unchartered place and your little idea here's gonna get us killed." Brandon butted in, smirking at her.

"Well we're bound to die eventually." She shrugged.

* * *

"Who the hell are you and why are you in my camp?" A man with a sheriff's badge and hat growled, holding the barrel of his gun to Taylor's forehead.

"Go ahead, shoot me. Kill one o' tha last humans standing. Smooth move, Officer…? Does that badge say "Friendly"? 'Cos you don't seem all that friendly ta me, Mister." She raised an eyebrow at him. Sierra climbed out of the truck and snorted a laugh at her best friend's comment.

Taylor's lips curved upwards in a sort of half smile, glancing at the brunette once again.

"Well are any of 'em bit or scratched, Rick?" An older man said, making his way towards them all.

"Ahh, so your name's Rick? Well, Mr. Rick sir, mind holding that gun at anyone here but me? How 'bout that driver o' mine? I'm sure he'd make some great walker bait." Taylor's expression changed to a smirk and just made Sierra laugh some more.

James and Brandon climbed out of the passenger side of the truck and saw Rick holding the gun up to Taylor's head. " 'Ey, listen here. We don't want no trouble, we just wanted to check out and see if there were any other survivors around here," James called to him.

"Well none a ya are bit, right?" Rick asked him. James nodded, "We're all clean sir. Barely escaped a department store out in time, yet somehow managed to."

"Only 'cos I'm badass ya know." Sierra piped in, calming down a bit as she looked from person to person.

" 'Ey was I not sitting on that shelf with ya?" Taylor glanced at her friend.

"True, true, but I'm still more badass than you."

"Yeah, okay, whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Ain't no one getting sleep at all around here, blondie."

Taylor smiled slightly but rolled her eyes and looked back to Rick, who slightly sighed and turned back to the older man. "Follow Dale here," he told the new group, just as Bradley was getting out of the truck.

Farrynne clung to both Taylor and Sierra as they walked, Pearson, James, Brandon, and Bradley trailing slightly behind them as the older man led them to a campsite that was littered small tents, an RV on one side of the campsite and a well on the other.

"Mighty fine camp ya got goin' here," James said, "hate it if we're intrudin' ya know."

"Ah no, don't you kids worry about it. There's plenty a room for all a ya." Dale smiled at the group, who smiled in return and thanked him, then dispersed to go their own ways.

Taylor caught Sierra by her elbow to stop her from walking off any farther. "I say we go hunt and catch something for these guys. Say thanks to them, ya know?"

Sierra gave a curt nod and the two girls walked into the forest to try and find any sort of edible game.

It wasn't long before a deer was in sight. Sierra reached for her handgun and was quick to shoot it just behind it's shoulder blades. It collapsed to the ground and began struggling to move, not fully dead yet. Taylor approached it and pulled an arrow out of her quiver, using her bow and shooting it right between the eyes. She waited for the life to fade from the animal and pulled her arrow out of its head.

"Let's haul this damn thing back to the fire."

* * *

"Wow girls, y'all catch that? Oh, I'm Shane by the way." He smiled at the two girls slightly, then looked at the large, dead buck they had carried back to camp. "Y'all sure you didn't just find one of Daryl's kills and haul it back to claim as your own?" He chuckled. "I don't think two little girls like you could honestly do that."

"Are ya doubting my abilities?" Sierra questioned, raising an eyebrow at Shane.

"What abilities? You two are just little city girls that belong in the kitchen." He smirked.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't beat you to a pulp, right here, right now?" She growled.

Taylor cut in, "Sierra don't. Please. We were welcomed here and it wouldn't be polite ta beat up one o' their people. 'Specially on tha first night."

"Fine. But only 'cos it's tha first night." She muttered and turned away to go and begin skinning the deer. That was a process that Taylor couldn't stand watching or doing, and so she turned the other way, just after snatching a gun off a tree stump where Sierra had laid it.

She walked into the woods, making sure to keep her footsteps quiet. Her bow was drawn back and an arrow was knocked into place on it. The handgun was in the waistband of her jeans as she searched around for any stray walker that might be near.

Leaves rustled and Taylor turned around to see a person step out of the bushes. Before she realized that it wasn't a walker, she let the arrow fly. Luckily her aim was off by about an inch and skimmed past the man's ear.

"What the hell man!" He exclaimed, bending down to pick the arrow up out of the ground. He threw it at her, without intention on really hurting the girl. She caught the arrow mid-air and stuck it back in her quiver.

"Well ya can't just scare a person like that!" She argued, her hands balled into fists after she slung her bow back over her shoulder.

"Excuse me but maybe, just maybe blondie, ya should look and make sure you're not 'bout ta hurt a person! And what the hell are ya doin' out here anyway?! And who are ya?"

"Damn all these questions, do ya ever shut up? I'm staying at a camp around here and tha name's Taylor. Who're you?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Daryl Dixon, not that it's of any matter to ya." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh damn it. You're the Daryl Dixon from that camp up there?" She asked and pointed in the direction that the camp was in.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"Because, dumbass, that's the camp I'm staying at for a while."

"Oh great, does that mean I'm gonna have to see your ugly face every day?"

"Well does it mean I'm gonna have to smell ya from a mile away every day? I mean seriously man, I shower wouldn't kill ya."

"Sorry, not all of us have our minds on lookin' pretty and smelling like a damn peach, sweetheart, some of us are focused on not dyin' here," he sneered coldly at her.

"Oh it's gonna be great sleepin' at the same camp as you." She muttered in return and the two began walking back to camp, arguing back and forth. When they were about a quarter of a mile near the camp, low groaning and grunting was heard.

Taylor spun around, an arrow already knocked into place on the bow, which was drawn back far.

"Shit," Daryl muttered to himself as he saw a mass of about six walkers staggering towards them. Taylor rolled her eyes and fired an arrow, hitting her target, the eye of a walker. She was about to shoot at another one when Daryl fired his arrow straight into its eye, just before she could.

"How 'bout you shoot at the ones that aren't already taken care of," she hissed at him. He rolled his eyes and shot at two more, leaving the last two for her to shoot, which she did.

"You're really annoying, ya know." Taylor said and proceeded to walk back to camp, still arguing with him the whole way there.

* * *

"I'm tempted to play baseball wit a damn walker's head," Taylor muttered, making Sierra laugh loudly. Jim looked at the two of them, everyone was gathered around a fire, eating the deer that the two girls had brought back.

"What's up wit ya friend?" He asked Taylor, talking about Sierra.

"What do ya mean?" She raised an eyebrow.

"He means she's loud and laughs at everythin' even if it's not funny." Daryl muttered.

"At least she shows emotion, unlike some of us," Taylor narrowed her eyes at him. He fell silent and just went back to eating.

"She does laugh at just about everything though," Rick shrugged.

"She also has a name and she can also hear you ya know?" Sierra butted in, just before Taylor clapmed a hand over her mouth. "Just shh and let me tell 'em what happened," Taylor said smirking slightly.

"Sierra pissed me off and I hit her in the head with my rifle. There. Simple as that. Don't piss me off." She grinned slightly.

Sierra pried her hand off of her mouth and said, "That is so not what happened. We were tryin' to shoot a deer and she moved her arm a weird way and hit me with the butt of her shotgun. I was out cold for a week."

"Yeah and there's still somethin' wrong with your head." Taylor rolled her eyes.

After that, people began to clear out, going into their tents. James, Brandon, Bradley, and Pearson were sharing one tent, while Farrynne, Sierra, and Taylor were sharing another. Sierra and Farrynne were passed out almost instantly, whereas Taylor couldn't seem to fall asleep and was wandering around the camp aimlessly.

"Hey blondie," she heard a voice call and turned around to see Daryl standing on top of the RV. He motioned her over. She raised an eyebrow yet walked over and called to him, "What do you want? Want to continue getting on my nerves?"

"Eh shut up. You talk a lot." He muttered and leaned down, picking her up under her arms and pulling her on top or the RV beside him.

"Alright so maybe I went a little overboard. I guess. Maybe," he muttered.

Taylor smirked and raised an eyebrow at him, sitting against the railing at the top of the RV. "Is this your way of apoligizin'?"

"Maybe.." He blushed slightly.

"Alright then fine, maybe you didn't deserve to almost get shot with an arrow as much as I said you did."

"Apology accepted **blondie**," he grinned slightly and sat beside her, his legs hanging over the railing.

"Ya on watch duty?" She asked, looking at him.

"Yup." He shrugged.

"Eh I can't sleep anyway. Might as well stay up 'ere a while longer," she said and moved so she was laying on her back and looking up at the dark sky.

"Well ain't that a great idea." He glanced over at her and smiled, even though he knew she couldn't see him. Maybe he'd found a friend around the camp, although he couldn't understand why she wanted anything to do with him.


	2. Chapter 2

**(AN: Okay I realized I should've written this in the first chapter, but Taylor, Sierra, Pearson, Bradley, Brandon, and James are all my OCs. I don't own any other characters unless I say at the beginning of a chapter.)**

Taylor woke up and found herself back in her on tent, wondering how she got there after being up on the RV. Then she remembered she hadn't been up there alone, even though Daryl had barely talked the entire night, although when he did, it wasn't all that rude and sarcastic. They had talked about the walkers and if either of them thought anyone would find a cure, although both knew that no one would find anything. Taylor found out more about Daryl himself, like that he was 24 years old and he had been hunting since before he had turned nine, and that he had a brother, who had gone missing after the sheriff handcuffed Merle, his brother, to a pipe. She also learned that his favorite color was red and he hated being around so many people at once and that was why he was in the woods so often.

Taylor stood up and stretched, hearing as her back cracked slightly. Then she walked out of her tent and spotted a woman, Lori, who she had met at dinner the night before. "Hey, uh.. Lori? Do ya know where Daryl is? I've gotta ask him a question," she said.

"Oh, no, sorry hun I haven't seen him since he was carrying you to your tent early this mornin'. I think he went out into the woods again. I've got no clue what that boy even does out there all day long." Lori shrugged.

"Alright, thanks anyway," Taylor smiled slightly at the older woman and turned to grab her bow and quiver from her tent, hoping that Daryl had left them in the tent with her.

Instead of finding her weapon, she found a short note on her side of the tent that read, _"Haha blondie I've got your bow. And I'll be about three miles into the woods if you want it back now. –Daryl"_

Taylor smirked to herself and rolled her eyes, grabbing her gun and knife for protection as she made her way into the woods. Obviously Daryl wanted to talk to her, or else he wouldn't have taken the bow. He knew how much it meant to her, they had discussed it the night before.

She continued walking straight, going the three miles he had said to go. Luckily there were no walkers in sight.

"Daryl?" She called out softly, not wanting to attract unwanted attention in case there was just a walker that she wasn't seeing at the moment.

Soon there were two hands on her shoulders. She was quick to grab her gun and spin around, only to see she was pointing the gun at Daryl instead of a walker.

"Damn you! You scared the shit out of me!" She hissed at him, pushing him back gently.

He just simply grinned and held up her bow in front of him. "Ta da?" He offered, his grin turning into a smirk as she gladly took the bow from him and slung in on her shoulder.

"What did ya do to it?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing, ta be honest, I just figured it'd be an easy way to get you out here."

"Well why do ya want me out here anyway?" She exclaimed.

"I dunno. I told you though, I can't stand hanging around those people very long. And I guess you're alright to talk to I mean you can get annoying at times but hey you hunt so I mean 's all good-"

Taylor gently tapped his cheek. "You talk waaaay too much. Ya coulda said you just wanted to hang out with me and I'd have said yes ya dumbass," she said, causing him to blush again.

"Oh shaddup a'ready." He managed a half smile.

She laughed a bit and punched him gently in the shoulder. "So," she said, "what's there ta do 'round here?"

"Well hunt pretty much. But if ya want ya can help me make some arrows." He shrugged, looking at her. She nodded. "Alright but you'll hafta teach me how," she answered.

"This should be fun," Daryl smiled and took her by the wrist, leading her further into the woods. She noticed how he continued to glance around the woods, eyes darting back and forth. His guard was always up. The hand that wasn't holding her wrist was clutching his crossbow. An arrow was already pulled into place in case a walker happened to appear. After a while of walking, Daryl had led her to a large river. He sat pointed to the edge of the shore and looked at her. "Sit 'ere for a minute."

She nodded and sat down, watching as he jogged back up the riverbank and into the woods a bit. Taylor found that they were out of each other's sight and pulled her own handgun from her waistband for protection.

Daryl moved around in the woods, searching for some good tools to make some makeshift arrows. When he came back to the riverbank, he saw that she was staring at the water, her head on her knees. There was something different about her than the others back at camp. She seemed to be more understanding, despite how sarcastic she could get.

He slid down the side of the bank and right into her, pushing both of them into the water. Taylor let out a small squeak of surprise and glared at Daryl, tackling him deeper into the water. "You don't do that to a person!" She yelled at him, sitting beside him in the water. She was up to her shoulders when she sat, but not the practically 6' 0" man. He was only up to his mid-stomach and grinned at her.

"Awh, Blondie, did I scare ya?" He joked.

"Yea! Now don't do that again!" She punched him in the shoulder, though it didn't seem to faze him at all. Instead he looked around saying, "Maybe we should go for a swim instead a makin' some more arrows."

"Eh that'd be fun," she said, "if I knew how ta swim." She then slapped her hand over her own mouth, realizing she shouldn't have said anything.

"Ya can't swim?!" Daryl looked surprised. She blushed brightly, "nope."

"Oh c'mon. I'll help ya," he said and began wading further into the river. He glanced back and noticed she wasn't following. "Let's go princess, ya can't sit there forever."

"Fine." She muttered and stood up to move into deeper water, standing a few feet from him, the water up to her chin as she stood. "You're gonna get me drowned."

"I ain't gonna let ya drown now c'mere." Daryl said. At the spot he was standing, he was up to his chin and not touching the bottom. He grabbed her by the hand and reeled her towards him, holding her under her arms to keep her floating.

"See this ain't so bad." He smiled slightly.

"Yeah, not bad at the moment but just let go of me and I'll probably drown on the spot." She mumbled, looking at the water.

"Damn you don't ever stop talking, do you? For the last time, I ain't gonna let you drown but say it again and I might consider it," he snapped slightly. She rolled her eyes and just continued to stare at the water, her arms crossed over her chest.

"You're really not enjoyin' this, are ya princess?" He smirked.

"Not at all."

"Then ya are gonna really hate this," he said.

"Wait wha-" she was cut off as Daryl dunked her under the water, going under as well. He opened his eyes underwater to see that she was really struggling to surface again, and surfaced himself, pulling her up.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Help me out of the water." She said.

"What?"

"I'm getting out."

"Haha, that's real funny princess but here's tha thing. Ya can't exactly get out. Ya can't swim." He smirked evilly at her.

"Daryl help me out of the water!" Taylor said, clenching her fist.

"Nope."

"Daryl please."

He paused for a moment and looked at her. Her expression seemed angry but her eyes said she was scared, and he noticed she was shaking, even though the water was warm.

"Okay," he finally said and began swimming her back to shore. She was quick to climb out of the water and looked at him, pulling her wrist from his grasp. He raised an eyebrow at her. "I was just kiddin' 'round. Do ya honestly think I'd let ya drown?"

"I don't know why I'm even out here with you. I barely know ya. This wasn't such a good idea," she said quietly and began walking back to camp, her gun in her hand at that point.

Daryl watched as she began walking away, then she disappeared from his sight. He could almost hear his brother Merle saying, "Damn brother I told you I'd be the only one to eva like or love ya, you shouldn't a even tried."

A scream broke him from his thoughts and he cocked an arrow onto the crossbow, pulling the string back as he ran towards the sound. "Taylor?" He yelled out.

"Help!" She screamed in return. When he managed to find her, three walkers were cornering her and her handgun wasn't within reach of her. Her arrows were spilled out all over the ground about ten feet away from her and she was using her bow to knock them back when they came too close. Daryl narrowed his eyes and shot a walker in the back of its head, the arrow coming out on the other side. It dropped to the ground and one of the other walkers turned to face him, but he wasn't worried about that. The other walker was close to Taylor and had its hands wrapped around her neck. He didn't waste any time in pulling the string of his crossbow back and placing an arrow on it, pulling the trigger and letting it fly through the walker's skull. He then stabbed the last walker that had been coming toward him in the head, watching as each of the walkers dropped to the ground.

Taylor's eyes were wide as she looked at him, gently touching her neck. There were light bruises around her neck and throat, but no scratches. Her breathing was ragged and obviously scared as she took a few steps forward and hugged him. He dropped his crossbow on the ground beside their feet. "I..I.." She stammered as his arms wrapped around her back awkwardly. This was rare for him; being hugged and hugging back, but he did it anyway. "Shh," he murmured softly. "It's 'kay now."

She let out a quiet sob and his arms tightened a bit. "Taylor 's okay now," he whispered, trying to calm her down. After a moment, she quieted down and took a few deep breaths, pulling back slightly to look at him. He let his hands drop to his sides and smiled slightly.

"T-thanks,"she said, blushing.

"Haha, no problem blondie, but let's get goin'." Daryl said and began walking back to the camp, his hand at the small of her back after she picked up her weapons and started walking beside him.

* * *

"Taylor!" James shouted, running towards the girl and sweeping her up into his arms in a hug. Brandon and Sierra soon followed, practically tackling the blonde.

"We heard a scream and thought you got attacked!" Sierra said. "Don't scare me like that! Damn you!"

Brandon let out a sigh of relief and said, "We were going to go and check on you but Rick wouldn't let us." Then he leaned in and whispered, "but we were about to go anyway."

Sierra looked to Daryl. "How many were there?" She asked him, knowing he was there with Taylor.

"Only three." He answered without emotion.

"Well then there's bound to be more."

James looked back at the camp. "I think we should tell Rick and Dale then."

Daryl simply shrugged and pushed past everyone, lightly nudging Taylor as he passed, on purpose. She rolled her eyes and said to Sierra and the others, "I'll be back in a minute." Then she walked after Daryl.

"What d'you want?" She asked, walking a few steps behind him. He spun to look at her and said, "lemme see your neck."

"Wait, what?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Your neck, damnit."

"Oh," was all she said as she moved her hair back away from her neck and onto her back. Four blackish-purple marks were on each side of her neck, with two light black marks on her throat. He brushed his fingers over the marks and she flinched, moving away from him.

"Damn he got ya good." He said.

"Yeah. I guess."

"You should probably put somethin' warm over that. C'mon, I'll help ya out." He said and lightly grabbed her wrist. She nodded slightly and followed him to what looked like his tent. He kept it separated from the others, just at the edge of the woods. There was a small fire going outside of the tent and a pot lay beside it. He released her wrist and poured some water into the pot, then placed it over the fire and sat on a log beside it. Taylor sat beside him and glanced at him. "Thanks. Again."

"Ain't a big deal princess." He said, staring at the water. He pulled a cloth from his pocket and placed it in the water to let it heat up, then sat back in his spot, staring at the ground.

"Somethin' on your mind?" She asked. He was almost too quick to nod as he looked back over at her. He forced a smile and she shifted so she was facing him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Somethin's wrong. What is it?" Her voice was soft, instead of sarcastic and cold like she usually was.

"Nuthin'. Feel bad is all. But that ain't important." He said, looking back at the ground.

"Awh c'mon, don't feel bad. It's fine. You were just messin' 'round, I get it." She said, yet he couldn't meet her eyes. So instead of continuing to try and get him to look up, she moved his arm and slipped her hand into his. He paused, unmoving, before deciding that it was okay and wrapped his hand around hers.

Taylor smiled and then watched as he took the pot off of the fire with his free hand and emptied the water onto the ground, sliding his hand away from hers to pick up the small, warm cloth. He turned to her and swept her hair behind her head, his hand gently resting on her cheek as their eyes met. He quickly realized what he was doing and drew his hand away, moving to lightly wrap the warm cloth around her neck. "This might hurt a bit," he said gently, tying the cloth around her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut and winced, gritting her teeth at the burning feeling on her throat.

"Sh, just give it a minute blondie it'll feel better." He said quietly, sitting back down beside her.

"Alright," she managed, then stood after a few minutes. "You comin' back to the rest of the camp?" She asked him.

"Yea, I'll catch up later, you go on ahead." He said, standing up as well and walking into his own tent. He zipped the door up. Taylor stood there, looking at the tent for a moment before turning and walking her own way back to the tent. Her hand moved to the cloth around her neck and she realized it was a handkerchief. She rolled her eyes, wondering who even carried those around anymore.

Her hand snatched up her bow and arrows as she passed the log they had been sitting on. She looked at it just long enough to noticed the word "BLONDIE" carved into the inside of the wood. She smirked to herself and just kept walking, slinging her stuff back over her shoulder.

* * *

"Oh hey look, food." Bradley grinned and sat on the ground beside the fire. Taylor handed him some squirrel and he was quick to scarf it down.

"You eat like a pig," Andrea said, making a face.

"I think he is a pig." Amy added.

"He is as big as one," Sophia giggled.

Bradley narrowed his eyes and Taylor butted in, " 'Ey now we don't need to go on pickin' on my team here."

"Well maybe he should lose some weight and then we wouldn't pick on him." Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Would you like to continue talking?" Taylor raised an eyebrow at her, standing up.

"Actually, I would. Let me start out by sayin' you must be the most annoyin' bitch that has ever stepped foot in this camp." Andrea narrowed her eyes at the younger girl, standing up as well.

"That's only because you ain't countin' yourself." Taylor smirked. Sierra laughed loudly and just watched the two blondes as they argued back and forth, before Taylor glanced at Sierra.

"It's the second night, right?" She asked. Sierra grinned and nodded saying, "I see where this is goin' and honestly I love it."

"Oh shut up, ya sound like a damn howler monkey or somethin'," Andrea sneered at Sierra.

Taylor stepped forward a couple feet and landed a punch straight in Andrea's cheek. "You don't talk about my family like that. Me maybe, but my family? You don't get away with that." She hissed and turned away to walk back to the spot she had been sitting in when Andrea pushed her forward. She landed just beside the fire and her jeans caught on fire at the knee. Sierra was quick to pour her glass of water on Taylor's jeans to put out the fire but she was hissing in pain already; the fire had burnt straight through to her knee and burnt the skin.

"Damnit Andrea!" Dale said, moving to help Taylor up and motioned for Andrea to go over by the RV, which she reluctantly did.

Daryl was taking watch on the top of the RV and looked down at Andrea. "What d'ya want?"

"Dale's pissed at me 'cos I pushed that leader of the freaks into the fire." She muttered and shrugged. It took Daryl a minute to realize what she meant and he jumped off the RV, landing on his feet beside her. "The blonde girl? You pushed tha blonde girl into the fire? Taylor?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I don't know her name, all I know is she was blonde and like sarcastic a lot."

Daryl gritted his teeth and shook his head in anger, turning and jogging in the direction he knew led to the fire. He saw Rick pick Taylor up and help her into her tent, Sierra and the others standing just outside. Rick came out and zipped up the door, saying, "just give her a minute to change into some shorts I found in there for her," to all the others. "They I'm gonna try and get someone in there to bandage the burn for her."

Daryl made his way over to Sierra and asked her, "'Ey you were there right? How bad is tha burn?"

"It's pretty bad. Damn Andrea, I'm about to go over there and shoot her in the damn head, no one burns my bestfriend's knee but me." She narrowed her eyes and looked at the tent.

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her. "You burnt her knee?" He asked.

"Yeah, twice actually. Let's just say gasoline has a tendency to explode when you put a match on it." She grinned sheepishly up at him.

"Well naw shit I coulda told ya that," he chuckled, then looked at the tent.

"Hey hun you okay in there?" Farrynne called softly.

It was a moment before Taylor called back out, "Honestly Farrynne I just fell in fire. Yeah I'm feeling so damn great right now." Daryl smiled, sensing the sarcasm in her voice.

"Well I kinda mean were you able to get the shorts on without falling down and dying." Farrynne rolled her eyes.

"Yeah." Was all Taylor said, obviously annoyed.

Sierra and Daryl both laughed as he unzipped the tent and walked in, Sierra and the others, Farrynne and Bradley, following just behind him. It was a pretty big tent, and Daryl looked at her knee. It was bright red and white as a blister.

"Ew damn that's gotta hurt." He shuddered.

"Naw shit, thanks for that, redneck," she rolled her eyes and glanced down at her own knee.

Sierra looked to the table sitting just beside Taylor's cot and saw a roll of bandages. She walked over and picked them up, moving to wrap Taylor's knee. As soon as she touched it, Taylor let out a short yelp, "Easy, will ya?!"

Sierra gritted her teeth and just continued to wrap the knee as Taylor constantly yelled, "shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit" over and over again until she finished up.

Daryl and Bradley were laughing over in the corner of the tent and Farrynne was just looking at her nails, not paying attention to anything else.

That's when everyone heard Amy's blood-curdling screams, "Walkers! Get 'em off of me!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Amy!" Andrea's screams and cries were able to be heard all around the camp. Sierra jumped off the side of the cot and grabbed her only gun, running out of the tent. Bradley and Farrynne followed, and just as Daryl was about to leave, Taylor was standing up and hopping over to pick up her bow and arrows. He stopped and turned around, helping her out of the tent. He used his free hand to shoot at a walker that got way too close for comfort. Taylor took her handgun out of her waistband and began firing at a walker that threatened to bite Sophia and Carl. That gave Lori and Carol an opening to grab their children, each giving a nod to the younger blonde.

"Nice shot," Daryl said softly.

"Yeah.." She said quietly. "Thanks."

The two of them continued shooting at whatever walker they could when Dale called to everyone, "Get in the vehicles! The herd's too big!" Daryl looked at Sierra and Bradley and called over, "She's gonna ride with me, y'all go on ahead, I got 'er I swear."

Sierra nodded slightly and their entire group jogged up to the large moving truck they had previously arrived in.

"You're riding with me whether you want to or not." He said to her, picking her up bridal style to hurry over to his motorcycle.

Andrea, Dale, T-Dog, Carol, and Sophia climbed into Dale's RV, Andrea sobbing over the loss of her sister. Glenn climbed into his own mustang, while Rick, Lori, Jackie, Shane, and Carl got in Rick's truck.

Daryl placed Taylor down on the back seat of the motorcycle and was quick to move in and sit in front of her.

"You 'kay?" He asked as he started the bike. Walkers staggered towards all the cars, but everyone drove off.

Taylor wrapped her arms around his waist from balance. "Yeah, my leg just hurts." She said quietly. Daryl drove the motorcycle beside Dale's RV, letting him lead them all.

"It's a nice motorcycle ya got 'ere." She said quietly, shivering against the bitter wind that rushed past him. She leaned her head against his back to shield her from the cold and felt him tense up immediately.

She instantly pulled her head off his muscular back and went back to dealing with the cold.

"We just passed a CDC," Taylor said, nudging Daryl slightly.

"What's a CDC?" He grumbled.

"It's the Center of Disease Control. I think." She shrugged.

"Alright well I'll tell Dale that." He said, waving his hand at Dale and slowing his bike down. Dale slowed to a stop and peered his head out his window. "What?" He called.

"There's a CDC back a short ways," Daryl yelled back.

"Alright, we'll stop there and look for help."

Daryl turned the motorcycle around and began to drive back the way to the CDC complex, pulling into the large, paved parking lot. He climbed off the bike and helped Taylor down, watching as Rick, Glenn, and Dale pulled up in their vehicles, letting everyone else out.

"So, who's gonna go knock on the door?" T-Dog asked. "'Cause I sure ain't."

"I say Daryl does it. He was the one who spotted it." Sierra smirked.

"Even though I WASN'T the one that found it, I'll be the one to man up and quit bein' a sissy. I mean really guys, it's a door." He threw his hands up into the air, then began to stride toward the front door, pounding his fists loudly against the glass and shouting, "Ey open up man!"

It was a few minutes before a man that looked to be in his late thirties or early forties opened the door, looking at the large group. "You bit?" He asked nervously.

"Man really do you honestly think any of us got bit? I mean if we did we'd be sick as shit." Daryl rolled his eyes.

"What about her?" The man asked, pointing at Taylor. "Why is she walkin' like that? I bet you she got bit."

"Well I bet you she got pushed into a fire and burnt her knee now are ya gonna let us in or not?" Daryl's temper was shortening every second.

The man stepped to the side and everyone walked in except Daryl, who had went back to help Taylor walk.

"There are some rooms, but many of you may need to share. I'm , by the way." He said as he led them all to an elevator. Taylor was squished between James and Bradley and couldn't help but smile when Daryl asked, "Do all doctors go around packin' heat like you?" And motioned to the gun that Jennings was holding.

"Nah I'm just using it for protection. Although you lot seem harmless," he smiled and looked down at Carl. "Except you. I'll be keeping an eye on you to make sure you don't start any trouble, Mister," he joked, making Carl laugh.

Taylor turned her head to the side and caught Daryl staring at her. He blushed slightly, while Taylor smirked at him.

He turned away and luckily for him that's when the elevator door opened, letting everybody out.

Jennings looked at everyone and began pairing them up for rooms.

The pairings:

Lori, Carl, and Rick

Sierra, Jackie, and T-Dog

Brandon and James

Shane

Carol and Sophia

Taylor and Daryl

Dale and Andrea

Pearson and Farrynne

Bradley

Glenn

Taylor glared up at Daryl. "Oh great, not only am I on the same team with you, but I have to sleep in the same room?"

He made a face at her. "Ouch Princess, that hurt."

"Oh you know I'm kiddin'," she smirked and walked to their room. It was all the way at the end of one hallway, and on the inside it was definitely one of the largest rooms in the entire building.

Daryl followed to check and make sure she was walking okay and breathed, "Wow," when he saw the inside.

"Oh my god there's a shower. Go take one, I aint sleeping in the same room with a smelly lil' shit like you." She said and pointed to the bathroom.

"Eh, I'll take one after dinner, and so'll you, now c'mon,"he said, turning to her and holding an arm out.

"What?" She asked, looking at him.

"I'll carry ya out to tha others." He shrugged and picked her up bridal style again, turning out to the door and going out to find the others surrounding a table.

"Oh hello there, come on and join us," smiled at them.

Daryl placed Taylor down in the seat beside Sierra, then moved to sit beside Rick and Shane.

"You keep drinkin', Glenn, I wanna see how red yer face can get," Daryl said to Glenn, causing everyone to laugh. Sierra was so drunk she could barely sit up and Pearson was slurring every word he said.

Taylor simply sat there, calmly sipping her whiskey. She had drank a lot, but not enough to the point where it made her feel drunk.

Shane on the other hand, was laughing at everything, even if it wasn't intended to be a joke, and was on his tenth bottle of Bud Light.

Daryl had drunk about two bottles of whiskey and was still in his right mind, although he acted strange and happier than usual.

Taylor looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What, Blondie?" He called over to her.

"You've gotta be one of the strangest people I've ever met." She answered.

"I kno'," He grinned.

"Alright, well, it seems as though it's time for everyone to head to bed," Jennings said, standing up.

People began to disperse, including Taylor, who was attempting to hop on one foot all the way back to their room. Daryl came up behind her and picked her up by the waist, causing her to jump in surprise.

He threw her over his shoulder and carried her that way, despite her complaints.

"Put me down!" She exclaimed.

"Will ya take it easy for a minute? I'm just tryin' ta help ya." Daryl said as he walked to their room.

"Wait.. Daryl?" She asked, lifting her head up to try and look at him.

"Well duh it's Daryl." He rolled his eyes and opened the door, placing her on the ground.

She limped inside, moving over to the only bed in the room.

"I hope you're good with sleepin' on tha floor 'cause I ain't sleepin' in tha same bed as you," she called to him as she sat down at the end of the bed and started to unwrap her knee, gritting her teeth and wincing the entire time.

"Eh Princess ya really complain a lot." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh shaddup, will ya?" She rolled her eyes. "Fine. But you're sleepin' at the end o' tha bed."

"Fine." Daryl said and looked at her for a minute before turning and disappearing into the bathroom.

Taylor looked up just as he closed the door and sighed to herself, laying back on the bed. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep without wanting to.

She woke to the sound of Daryl shutting the bathroom door and sat up, trying to stand as she forgot what had happened to her knee.

Taylor let out a soft yelp and almost fell, had she not caught herself on the side of the bed.

Daryl was quick to come to her side, helping her stand back up.

"Careful there Princess," he said gently and helped her sit back on the bed. He knelt down and took the bandage wrap that lay on the floor and began to rewrap her knee.

She flinched and her hand went to grip his shoulder, her nails digging into the skin lightly.

"Ow! Hey, easy there, ya don't need to hurt me too," he grumbled and she opened her eyes, which she had previously squeezed shut.

"Sorry, it hurts and you ain't exactly helpin', ya know." She muttered and took in the sight of him.

(This is just because me and my friend Sierra flipped out over seeing him shirtless so sorry guys I have to do this, tell your ovaries I'm sorry.)

He was shirtless (bye bye ovaries), with just a pair of jeans on. His hair was soaking wet and he had that same, usual scowl on his face.

"What're you lookin' at?" He growled slightly, standing up and looking around for a shirt he could wear.

Taylor glanced at his muscled back and saw hundreds of pale lines littering the entire space.

"What happened to your back?" She asked.

"What do ya mean?" He muttered.

"You know what I mean. What's up with tha scars?"

"Just an abusive Pa 's all. Not a big deal Princess." His voice softened slightly.

Taylor moved over and patted the spot beside her on the bed. "You best sit the hell down, redneck," she said softly.

He looked at her unsurely, then moved to sit beside her. She moved behind him and put two hands on his shoulders and pushed him foreword to look at his back.

"Damn Daryl, he got you good," she murmured softly.

"It ain't a big deal."

"Well it is now!" She exclaimed quietly.

He turned to look at her. "Why do you even care?" He asked.

"Because you're my friend." She said gently and looked up at his eyes.

He smirked slightly and pressed a hand to her cheek, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Guess what?" Taylor whispered to him.

"Hmm, Princess?"

"No more whiskey for you, ." She smirked and stood up, hopping over to the bathroom door.

"Aw, why not?" He practically whimpered.

"Because I ain't sleepin' in the same room as a drunk." She walked into the bathroom. She stripped down and unwrapped her knee, looking at the bright red burn mark. She stood up on one foot and turned the shower up to full blast, freezing cold. She let the cold water wash over her, refreshing her.

She took the bar of soap from beside her and scrubbed it into her hair and over her body, then rinsed it off, taking a moment to stand in the cold water before getting out and wrapping the towel around her.

Taylor looked to her clothes and quickly pulled them on, dropping the towel afterwards and limping out of the bathroom.

She looked at Sierra, Bradley, Farrynne, Brandon, James, and Daryl, who were all sitting, scattered in the room.

Farrynne looked at Taylor, then asked, "Hey! We're playin' truth or dare, wanna join?"

Taylor sat at the foot of the bed beside Daryl and shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"Okay, Bradley, truth or dare?" Pearson asked him, leaning back on his elbows on the floor.

"Hm.. Truth." Bradley shrugged.

Pearson thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you still have feelings for Sierra?"

Bradley snorted. "Nah man she's a slut."

Sierra stood up and looked at him, tilting slightly. "Uh, excuse you?" She asked.

"You heard me."

"Say it again."

"You, Sierra Hart, are a slut."

Sierra narrowed her eyes at him and came closer, upper cutting him in the nose and kneeing him in the groin.

"I ain't no slut." She muttered and went back to her seat.

"Okay then, Taylor, truth or dare?" Farrynne asked the blonde.

"Uh, truth I guess." She shrugged.

"Okay well do you have any feelings for our friend Daryl here?" Farrynne smirked.

"Nah. I mean, not really. No I guess," she flushed brightly.

"How could you not like that?! He's like sexy as hell!" Sierra exclaimed, jumping up and pointing at Daryl.

"Okay well you ain't ugly. But I don't like you. Not like that." She said as she looked up at him.

"Yeah, sure ya don't," he drawled sarcastically.

"I don't!" She exclaimed.

Truth or dare went on like that for a few hours before everyone dispersed to their own rooms.

Daryl laid back on his side of the bed and looked to Taylor, who sat beside him and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're weird." She said, laying back beside him.

"Oh shaddup and sleep." He chuckled softly, closing his eyes.

They were both asleep before either could say anything else.


	4. Chapter 4

Taylor woke up to the chill of the air and rolled over slightly, her hand resting on Daryl's chest.  
He woke up, being the light sleeper he was, and looked at her, wincing as his hangover came on strong.  
"What's up wit' tha air?" He asked quietly, sitting up. He then noticed that the lights were out and helped Taylor off the bed; her burnt knee was still affecting her badly.  
He helped her walk outside and met everyone in the heart of the CDC, the main computer lab.  
Daryl looked around as Sierra walked over to Taylor, the friends standing beside one another.  
"Uh.. Jennings? What's going on?" Dale asked quietly.  
Jennings turned to look at them all and said, "Well, the basement generators are running out of fuel."  
"What happens when the generators run out completely?" Rick asked, moving towards Jennings.  
Vi interrupted and blurted, "When the power runs out, system-wide decontamination will occur."  
Shane glanced to Rick, Bradley, Glenn, and T-Dog. "Let's go check out the basement." They each nodded in return and followed Shane down to the basement.  
Daryl looked to Taylor and Sierra, who each leaned on each other as Sierra's hangover was seriously overwhelming and Taylor was having trouble balancing. He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at them, just as James and Brandon came over towards them all.  
"Hey Jennings?" James called.  
"Hm?"  
"What happens when the decontamination process starts?"  
"Kid, I'll explain that when the others get back."

"Damn it Jennin's!" Daryl yelled at him. "What happens? Why these doors shut all of the sudden?!"  
"The doors are no longer in my control," Jennings said.  
"Open them already, let us out!" Shane shouted.  
"You know, what this place is?! This is a CDC! We protect the public from the nasty shit out there! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strain that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" He shouted before calming down. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure. In a terrorist attack, for example, HITS are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."  
Rick raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are HITS?"  
Jennings sighed and called, "Vi, define."  
Vi piped in again, saying, "HITS: high-impulse themobaric fuel-air explosives that consist of two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5000 and 6000 degrees. It's useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."  
Taylor let out a short gasp, letting her mind process the information before whispering, "The system lights the air on fire..."  
Sierra gasped a bit louder and shouted at Jennings, "Cut it off! Abort the decontamination! Do something smart for once, don't kill us all!"  
"No pain, no suffering. An end to our despair," was all he said, smiling slightly.  
"Open the damn doors!" Daryl yelled, picking up an empty wine bottle and moving to bash Jennings head in.  
Taylor caught Daryl by the elbow and pulled him back saying, "Hey, cut it out. We don't have time for this."  
He instead threw the wine bottle at a computer screen, then crossed his arms over his chest.  
Shane muttered to himself a few times and picked up an axe, handing one to Daryl as the two men began beating against the large metal doors with them in their hands.  
"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Jennings interrupted.  
Daryl froze in place and spun around, moving to Jennings. "Yeah? Well you head ain't!" He shouted, swinging the axe at him.  
Everyone began trying to push Daryl back and Taylor managed to take the axe from his hands.  
Jennings rolled his eyes. "You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everything was gone."  
"Well I have to keep hope alive," Rick said.  
"There is no hope. There never was."  
"There's always hope, maybe not you, maybe not here, but there is always hope."  
Jennings snickered. "This is what takes us down. This is what will be our extinction event."  
Carol, Lori, and Farrynne were all crying, with Taylor, Sierra, Daryl and Shane shouting and trying to attack Jennings.  
Shane became frustrated and finally pulled out his gun. "Get out of my way, Rick." He growled.  
"No, Shane!" Rick argued.  
Shane ignored his arguing and aimed the gun at Jenning's head. "I'll blow your head off, now open the damn door!"  
"Shane, you don't handle it this way!" Rick shouted, tackling Shane and disarming him after he shot some computers. "Are ya done now?!"  
"Yeah, I guess we all are."  
Rick turned Jennings and shouted, "You're a liar!"  
"About what?" He raised an eyebrow.  
"There being no hope! If that were true you would have bolted with the rest. But you stayed! Why?"  
"Not because I wanted to it was because I made a promise to her." Jennings sighed quietly.  
"Test subject 19 was your wife," Lori stated quietly.  
"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" He asked, looking at them all.  
"Well, as heartfelt as this moment is WE'RE ALL ABOUT TO EXPLODE HERE, CAN WE MOVE THIS ALONG PLEASE?" Taylor and Sierra both screamed in unison.  
Daryl was still banging the axe against the door in the background, and Taylor and Sierra joined him.  
"She was dying. It should have been me on that table. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place, I just worked here, she was an Einstein. She could have done something."  
"All we want is a chance," Rick said quietly.  
"Let us keep trying as long as we can," Lori murmured.  
Jennings got up and walked over to another computer, typing in a few rows of number combinations. The metal door in front of Daryl, Taylor, and Sierra.  
"I'm very grateful," Rick told him, then bolted from the room with all the others but Jackie.  
Daryl glanced at the clock and then at Taylor, who was struggling to limp along. He hoisted her up into his arms and speed-walked to catch up with the others. He saw Carol hand Rick a hand grenade and backed up behind a column as he lit.  
Everyone backed up as it blew up, shattering the glass windows. They all quickly jumped from the building and our of the window, except for Taylor and Daryl.  
Taylor had to climb down from the building and Daryl helped her walk out to the RV once again.  
They all hid inside and waited for the CDC to be set on fire.


End file.
